Photographer's Note

This photograph of a fisherman derigging his oruva boat (a type of outrigger canoe with sail) as a tourist strolls by, just before sunset on the beach at Ethukala, north of Negombo, is my favourite Sri Lanka picture.

A few seconds after taking this photograph, the fisherman noticed that I was photographing his boat, and ran towards me demanding money for the picture. That constantly happens in Sri Lanka. It gets annoying after a while. Sri Lanka is trying to revitalise its tourism industry after its civil war, but this type of attitude towards tourists is what turns people away.

Ohhh...this is beautiful. I'm no fan of straight-up sunsets, but this is quite a different take. I really like how you captured the boat in the frame and made it the centerpiece so to speak...the two other figures add a lot in secondary interest as well. Good work!

Beautiful photo, good composition, splendid colors and sharpness. The sun is nicely place
in the center of the strings...hahahaa...But those fisherman can't do this...how can they come and demand for money..sounds bad and might scare away most of the tourists.

Now this is a gorgous shot David. Great elements and perfect timing for the scene. TO have one casually walking by while another works on pulling his boat in makes a nice contrast too. I see you have some nice shots at the end of the day. I tend to love morning the light. You can see some very BC ish photos in my gallery after the Mexicain shots from being on holidays. Thanks for posting

Hey David, this photo is superb, very nice positioning of the boat in relation to the sun. How did you manage to avoid overexposure? i was taking sunrise photos the other morning and a lot were overexposed and VERY bright @ 1/1000 shutter speed! And im talking with the sun lower than it is in this photo.

If you have any tips I woudl be pleased to hear them : )

Speaking of the man asking for money, I suppose they have a point asking, especially if they think you might be getting paid for the photos! I can imagine it getting annoying though, especially if you are a person photographer! Did you give him anything? How much would you say is fair for taking someones photo?

David, considering that this is an instant type of picture the composition is laid out well even to the sun being between the ropes and not cutting through one of them. The image sharpness is also very good. I visited Sri Lanka last year and enjoyed the island.

Hello David,
Today I browsed once your gallery I found this picture one of the most beautiful photos, also one of the best quality, a school example how a composition have to, my compliments for this!
Thanks a lot for interesting comment at my picture.
Best regards,
John.